fschmidt Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I follow the Old Testament along with a few other people. We are looking for a refuge from modern culture which we consider to be evil. This is partly for our families. We do not want our children to grow up around evil, and we ourselves would like to associate with moral people. We do not care what other people believe, we only care that they are moral. We do not want to convert anyone to our beliefs and we have no interest in converting to other beliefs. We would strongly support a religion if it can offer us a moral refuge from modern culture by allowing us to associate with their community. We need this because we are too small to stand alone. As a crude but simple way of judging religions, I look to see if men and women are separated during service. Feminism is one of the greatest evils of modern culture. Feminism is a slut power movement designed to encourage adultery and promiscuity. It always works to mix men and women whenever possible in order to encourage these things. A moral religion will separate men and women during service in order help people focus on God. Based on this simple criteria, the possible religions are Islam, traditional Anabaptists, Orthodox Judaism, and Sikhism. Islam and Christianity (Anabaptists) are very exclusive and don't tolerate those with other beliefs. Orthodox Judaism is racist, but it is an option that we are considering. I have only started looking at Sikhism yesterday, but what I have seen so far, I like. I do not live near a gurdwara, but I would certainly travel to visit one if Sikhism is a real option. So please let me know what you think. Could a gurdwara community provide the refuge that we are looking for? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsingh101 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 fschmidt Personally, I don't think Sikhs are at all immune from 'modern culture' and its effects. Levels of conservatism vary family to family and even individual to individual. It's not uncommon to have say one brother in a family who wholeheartedly jumps into modern secular culture, whilst another is more aligned to the principles of his faith and exercises more restraint. I don't think we can really escape modernity with all its implications (positive and negative) in this shrinking world. I think one helpful conceptualisation from Sikhi (which it probably shares with some other eastern faiths), is the analogy of the lotus. In Sikh thought we are encouraged to be like lotus flower that floats upon a putrid body of water, emanating beauty and purity without being besmirched by the body of water which surrounds it. This is not an easy thing to do (as I'm sure you know!), but offers us a framework to deal with more negative influences around us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fschmidt Posted December 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Of course no religion is completely immune from modern culture. All religions lose members to modern culture. The question is whether the place of worship is more like the lotus flower or the putrid body of water, to use your analogy. If there are standards of behavior at the place of worship, then it does serve as a refuge from modern culture. In this case, those family members of the group who join modern culture simply won't come to the place of worship, and this is a good thing since it keeps the religion good. As the Old Testament repeatedly tells us "You must purge the evil from you." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amardeep Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 The Gurdware temples of UK are different. I've experiences some to be extremely spiritual and elevating - a place of refuge - whereas others are more like cultural centers for the local Punjabi community where they can meet on a regular basis. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fschmidt Posted December 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 amardeep, do you have any suggestions about how I can distinguish between the two? As I mentioned, I don't live near any Gurdware temples, so I would have to fly to another city to see one. So all I can do before this is to call. How can I determine from a phone call whether a Gurdware temple is worth visiting? And a comment about religions that serve as cultural centers for some ethinicity. These don't last. If a religion doesn't really stand for something, then the people will just assimilate and the religion will die. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xylitol Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 My suggestion would be to go to a Gurdwara (Sikh temple) to get closer to God and not to socialize, although there is nothing wrong with some socialising here and there. There will be people there who are at all different points on their journey to God, and rather than looking at them and feeling disheartened I prefer to focus on the kirtan (spiritual music) and katha (discourses) etc. That way, even if people there happen to be lackadaisical in their attitudes, you can still gain benefit. Where do you happen to live? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paapiman Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 On 12/21/2015 at 3:50 AM, fschmidt said: I follow the Old Testament along with a few other people. We are looking for a refuge from modern culture which we consider to be evil. This is partly for our families. We do not want our children to grow up around evil, and we ourselves would like to associate with moral people. We do not care what other people believe, we only care that they are moral. We do not want to convert anyone to our beliefs and we have no interest in converting to other beliefs. We would strongly support a religion if it can offer us a moral refuge from modern culture by allowing us to associate with their community. We need this because we are too small to stand alone. As a crude but simple way of judging religions, I look to see if men and women are separated during service. Feminism is one of the greatest evils of modern culture. Feminism is a slut power movement designed to encourage adultery and promiscuity. It always works to mix men and women whenever possible in order to encourage these things. A moral religion will separate men and women during service in order help people focus on God. Based on this simple criteria, the possible religions are Islam, traditional Anabaptists, Orthodox Judaism, and Sikhism. Islam and Christianity (Anabaptists) are very exclusive and don't tolerate those with other beliefs. Orthodox Judaism is racist, but it is an option that we are considering. I have only started looking at Sikhism yesterday, but what I have seen so far, I like. I do not live near a gurdwara, but I would certainly travel to visit one if Sikhism is a real option. So please let me know what you think. Could a gurdwara community provide the refuge that we are looking for? Brother, if you live in Texas, there is Sikh temple over there, under a great Saint. You can definitely try that one. Please have a look below: http://www.gurdwarananaksar.com/english/houston_e.html Bhul chuk maaf 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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